Free Nestora Salgado! / Libertad para Nestora Salgado!

Join me and community organizers on Monday, February 22, at City Hall, 2 PM, in support of a resolution calling on the authorities in the State of Guerrero and in the Mexican Federal Government to end the illegal detention of Nestora Salgado immediately, and calling on Secretary of State Kerry and the U.S. State Department to prioritize Nestora’s release in its diplomatic discussions with Mexico.

Nestora is a dual Mexican and U.S. citizen who raised her family in the greater Seattle area, in Renton, but later returned her hometown in Mexico. Seeing her town overrun by corrupt officials and the drug cartels, she courageously formed a lawful community police force. However, when it became clear that Nestora would actually do her job – when she began investigating local officials for their ties to drug and sex trafficking – she was arrested on trumped up charges of kidnapping. This month, a United Nations panel ruled that the arrest and continued incarceration of Nestora Salgado was arbitrary and illegal.

Nestora has remained in prison in Mexico since August 21, 2013, for almost three years now. The UN panel was only the latest proof that she is innocent and must be released immediately. In 2014, a Mexican federal judge dismissed the criminal charges against Nestora, but this ruling has basically been ignored by state officials. Organizers in Mexico and Washington have rallied behind her cause. Two U.S. Senators and seven Members of Congress have submitted a letter advocating for Nestora’s release. The King County Council has written a letter too.

Join us Monday, February 22, at City Hall, 2 PM, as we help build the movement for her freedom! We will only succeed in winning Nestora Salgado’s liberation by expanding and strengthening our movement, here in the greater Seattle area, in the US as a whole, and in Mexico.

For the text of the resolution, see below.

A RESOLUTION urging the authorities in the Mexican federal government and the state of Guerrero to release Nestora Salgado, and requesting that the U.S. State Department increase its efforts to secure her release in its diplomatic discussions with Mexico.

WHEREAS, Nestora Salgado is a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States, who raised a family in the greater Seattle area, and who upon returning to her hometown in Guerrero, Mexico, formed a legally sanctioned community police force to defend itself against corrupt local officials with ties to drug cartels, as explained in La Jornada; and

WHEREAS, Nestora Salgado was arrested on August 21, 2013, on charges of kidnapping after she began investigating local government officials for corruption and complicity in drug and sex trafficking; and

WHEREAS, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, an international panel of independent human rights experts, communicated on February 1, 2016, that Nestora Salgado’s detention is illegal and arbitrary, and that she must be released immediately; and

WHEREAS, Nestora Salgado displayed extraordinary courage by taking a stand against the drug cartels and corrupt government officials in Mexico, especially considering the Mexican National Institute of Statistics reports that more than 164,000 people were killed in the country’s drug wars from 2007 to 2014, and the Association of Local Mexican Authorities reports that 1,000 municipal officials and nearly 100 mayors have been assassinated; and

WHEREAS, Nestora Salgado has, according to the Metropolitan King County Council, “experienced serious abuse of human rights, lack of adequate medical attention, and lack of due process throughout her detention” in August of 2013; and

WHEREAS, on August 29, 2014, two U.S. Senators and seven U.S. Representatives sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, explaining that “representatives in the Mexican federal government have expressed deep concern about Ms. Salgado’s imprisonment,” and calling on Secretary Kerry to “employ the resources of the State Department to continue efforts to secure Ms. Salgado’s release”; and

WHEREAS, on April 27, 2015, six members of the Metropolitan King County Council sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry urging “affirmative action to support efforts to free Nestora Salgado from imprisonment in Mexico so that she may return to the safety of her family in King County, Washington State”; and

WHEREAS, at least 100 organizations in the United States have called for Nestora Salgado’s release, including greater Seattle area organizations like El Centro de la Raza; the Washington Federation of State Employees Local 303, Local 843, Local 1488, and Council 28; the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 46; the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists Puget Sound Chapter; and the Coalition of Labor Union Women Puget Sound Chapter; and

WHEREAS, in order to win Nestora Salgado’s freedom, we must greatly strengthen the movement, and so we appeal to activists, workers, union leaders, farm workers and elected officials to join the City of Seattle in working to secure Nestora Salgado’s immediate release; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF , THE MAYOR CONCURRING, THAT:

Section 1. The City of Seattle urges the authorities in the Mexican federal government and the state of Guerrero to immediately release Nestora Salgado, and facilitate her safe return to her family here in Washington.

Section 2. The City of Seattle requests Secretary of State Kerry and the U.S.
State Department to increase their efforts to secure the release and return of Nestora Salgado in its diplomatic discussions with Mexico.